Making Change Happen
by Unleashed Reasoning
Summary: What happens if after two weeks of being Team Seven, the course of destiny is altered completely?
1. Chapter 1

A slow inhale brings an immense amount of sharp pain under your ribs. You grit your teeth.

_You used to think breathing was easy._

Exhaling slowly, you find yourself trying not to cough as a scratchy throat makes it difficult.

_It should have been easy to breathe. _

You find yourself trying not to claw at your own throat and chest. It'd make you look crazy. You don't like looking crazy. You have enough crap to worry about.

_Did anyone else have problems breathing?_

Your eyes are burning, but you resolutely refuse to blink. Instead, you're staring blindly ahead. Even staring blindly, you know what's lying in front of you. It makes your breath hitch yet again into a tight ball of pain.

_Remember what they promised?_

Teeth are bared, hands are shaking, and your throat is emitting some low rumbling growl that must be caused by your incapacity to breathe properly.

_You're wondering if you even care._

Eyes are staring at you in confusion. You don't usually get emotional. Well, at least not for anyone to see, not about important stuff. It's easier to be loud and obnoxious. It's easier to pretend the world doesn't hate you, that you carry everyone's hate because they can't carry the hurt. A fist, shaking, lifts to point accusingly at the two men before you.

"You said being a ninja would change things…" you hiss. "You lied!" Your hand whips around to point at the three people behind you. "They're useless!" you roar. You don't even care that they all flinch. The tallest tries to look nonchalant, the girl is biting her cheek not to hit you, and the black haired punk looks like you just took a dump on his dinner. "He doesn't teach us a damned thing! And he's only focusing on the stupid teme if he does!" Your hand drops to point at your shorter teammates. "They don't even like me! They hate me the most! They don't even _know_ me!"

"Psh, what's there to know, dobe?" remarks the black haired teen. His dark eyes look disdainfully at you.

"He's right!" screeches the girl. "You're nobody! You're stupid, rude, and can't even pull off a Bunshin!"

You laugh. It sounds twisted, gnarled. The two men in front of you look worried. "And you never wondered _why_?!" you ask incredulously. "You're supposed to be smart!" you accuse her. You grin darkly when she looks momentarily confused. "Here, we'll make it a test. Maybe that will make it easier for you. Why can't a genin perform a proper low level Bunshin but can create a jounin level Bunshin without batting an eye?" You sneer at her lost expression. "If you can't figure it out, I guess your grades weren't very accurate."

She gapes at you. You look away, dismissing her completely. You focus on the old man again, eyes flashing as you cross your arms defiantly. "I'm serious, Jiji. You chose the worst team imaginable for me."

"Naruto, you know that your grades…"

"Dead last my ass!" you shout. "You know it was the teachers that did that! Not Iruka Sensei, but ALL of the others did it! Iruka wasn't instructed to grade ALL of my papers! Grading papers often gets delegated to others while he's teaching other classes! It easily allowed my work to get bad marks!"

The Hokage blinks. "You're serious?"

"Of course I am! Didn't you ever wonder why my grades never improved?! Even after he started teaching, nothing really changed! I studied my ass off just to keep up with everyone, and that was including dealing with the wasted time it took me to sneak books out of the library!"

"Sneak books?" interrupts the scar faced man beside the Hokage. "You mean they didn't let you in?!"

"Of course they didn't! Who the hell ever lets me in?!" You snarl at them, as if all of this should have been obvious. "Jiji, your crystal ball sucks if you haven't seen half the crap I've had to deal with!"

The Hokage looks a bit sheepish as he ducks his head. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I only get a chance once and a while to look in on you. The council and paperwork keeps me busy."

You roll your eyes. "As the Professor, I would have thought you would abuse the hell out of the Kage Bunshin."

The old man's pipe drops from his gaping jaw. You can't even find it in yourself to chuckle.

"Look Naruto," begins your old teacher. "I know it's tough, but the decision has been made. We can't change teams now. It's already too late." He tries to look apologetic.

You know he means it, but it doesn't stop the rage from building. "Then what am I supposed to do?! I won't survive my first mission with these morons! Yeah, Hatake _used_ to be freakin' awesome! But he got lazy! Now all he does is read porn and stare at giant rocks all day!"

The silver haired man blinks, catching on to what was not said. He wonders how you know about the Stone, how you know he goes there every day for hours. You don't even care.

You wave a hand at the girl again. "She's next to useless! All she does is retain information well! She doesn't train! She doesn't stop fawning over the Uchiha! She's blind and stupid when it comes to him! She doesn't question anything she's supposed to! She just wags her tail like a well-trained dog!"

"Hey!" she yells.

You ignore her again, as well as the agreeable look duck butt has on his face as he looks at the pinkette out of the corner of his eye. He's your next target after all.

"The Uchiha is crap!" you blurt without remorse. "He is focused, but he's arrogant! He's so lost in the past he can't even screw his head on straight if you bring it up! He starts foaming at the mouth!" You notice him tense, eyes going wide before narrowing sharply. "He pretends to be top dog, but he can't handle it if someone shows him up in the slightest! Inferiority complex much?" You hear him growl. "You would think his past would help him grow, but he just lets it hinder him!" You roll your eyes disdainfully at your 'Sensei'. "He's no better than Sensei."

Now the silver haired man tenses, eye darting to you with a sharp threatening look.

Yup, you don't care.

You look expectantly at the old man.

"What exactly are you saying Naruto?" he asks. He looks tired. You feel a little bad for him, but not enough that you won't see this through. You'd wasted two weeks with this 'team'; you don't want to waste any more.

"Fix them," you say bluntly. "Either fix them or get me a new team. I'm tired of this crap. I have enough problems to deal with than stuck up jerks, fangirl idiots, and perverted sensei. I am not wasting my time training with a team that can't even train together. I want to _live_ through my ninja career. I don't want to die young because of a stupid team arrangement that gets me killed before I can even hit puberty."

The Hokage smirks. Iruka looks horrified but conflicted. Your "team" is ready to rip your head off.

"How do you propose we fix them?" asks the Hokage.

You shrug. "Hey, I might know they need to be fixed, but I _am_ just a genin. I don't know how to fix them. At first, when Sensei tested us, I'd hoped they'd start seeing the light. Sadly, they're only regressing further and further." You relax, feeling a bit better now that the Hokage seems to be taking you seriously. You were getting fed up there for a bit. You're glad you didn't have to argue too much. "I mean, I've been through a crap ton of horrible things too. You don't see me whining about it all the time. Yeah, okay, I can be obnoxious, but it's easier to surprise people when they think that's all you are." Your eyes drift to your Sensei. You feel a bit of resentment when he looks away quickly. "Look Jiji, I'll even be patient. I will wait until they're fixed before I start training seriously. It wouldn't be fair to train without my teammates. This is our chance to be awesome, and I am excited to be able to grow with my team." You lift your chin. "It's our way, the Leaf's way, to trust completely your teammates, for them to be our Ninja family."

When you use the word family, you look pointedly at both your Sensei and duck butt. You internally sigh when they both look confused.

"Well, it's true that your team is lacking any sort of bond… And it is true that there are some major flaws we need to get taken care of. Alright then, I will get things prepared." The Hokage nods at you. "Team Seven, excluding Naruto, you will report here tomorrow morning at zero seven hundred hours." He glares at Kakashi. "I will not tolerate tardiness." He looks at you now. "I do agree that any serious training should wait until you're all reunited, but I think you need something to keep you occupied until then. What areas are you lacking most from the Academy?"

Your eyes widen before narrowing in thought. "Well, I suppose the only real rough spots are taijutsu, basic chakra manipulation, and basic jutsu breakdowns. They were the main areas that the teachers tried the hardest to keep me 'dumb'. They never taught me the Academy taijutsu at all, unlike other civilian students."

You hear the old man and Iruka growl. You can't help the soft smile that flits across your face. You are, however, glad that your teammates are behind you and can't see it.

"Very well. I'm going to give you a tutor or two to get you up to speed. " The Hokage puffs on his regained pipe a moment. He exhales a long plume of smoke. "Yes, I think I will give you two instructors. I will move Iruka out of Mission Assignments for now, so that he can go over chakra and jutsus. He will also be quizzing you to see if you need any other areas of refinement. I would have him go over the Academy jutsu, but that would take too much time. I will send you to Team Eight. Their Sensei won't mind an extra student, and he is an expert taijutsu master. He will be able to find you a more suitable form and help you find the necessary information to continue with it once your team is brought back together."

You smile brilliantly at him, one of your rare true smiles. It makes him smile warmly back. "Thanks Jiji." You hope it's obvious how much this means to you by the emotion you fill those words with. Judging by the twinkle in his eye, you're pretty sure you managed it.

"Alright Team Seven, you're dismissed for the evening."

Everyone else turns to walk away, but you make sure to snap to attention first, drawing everyone's eyes again. Your team's eyes are huge. You feel a smug grin split your face as you calmly walk past them all as they twitch indecisively in the doorway.

* * *

**A/N:**

Alright, I don't usually write many Naruto fics. However, this snagged my attention and it was typed before I knew what was happening. I even ended up carrying on for another 3 chapters. This should be applauded! Anyway, I'm not making promises on how frequently this gets updated. I am a bit on a run with it, so I'll try writing a few more before I need a break from it. But, I do hope you enjoy what I've finished so far. Toodles!

Oh PS! This is written a bit differently too. I know it will be an odd read for most of you, but I like it like that so I don't plan on changing it. If it really bothers you that much, don't read it. *shrug* I hope that such a small thing really doesn't deter you, but I do know that there will be those who won't read past the first few paragraphs. To all those that do, thank you and I hope you like :3


	2. Waiting Game

Okay, so you weren't expecting Team Eight to be just as messed up as Team Seven. A part of you wonders if it's worse. However, even though your temporary Sensei beats you into the ground on a regular basis, you know you're learning a lot. Forget pupil-less cranky pants. You have a feeling he's carrying a weight like everyone else you seem to know, but you're not in the mood to fix him right now. You figure you'll do that once you have more skills to back up your words. You _are_ impressed with the other two members, even if one makes you deathly afraid of sharp pointy objects and the other makes your body feel like pulp.

You've even created a way to not see the horrible genjutsu that Team Eight's sensei and look alike perform. You lower your headband down over your eyes, having come up with the idea from your actual sensei. You lied to everyone but Buns about why you did that whenever you came to train. You told them you did it for training your other senses. You told Buns the truth, and she's taken to doing the same thing.

You guess it was pretty clever as training too, as your other senses _have_ improved. You also decide that this simple trick would be a gold nugget you'd save for people who have proven to have earned your trust. You'd feel bad for letting them suffer the horrible jutsu more than once.

The other portion of your three and a half weeks was spent with Iruka. It was grueling as much as the physical training was. Your old Academy Sensei made _sure_ that he made up for past instructors' mistakes. He even went so far as forcing you to improve your handwriting, saying poor writing skills could mean the life or death of fellow Shinobi. You didn't want to admit that made sense, because you hate how boring it is, but you force yourself to slowly repeat the same lines over and over again without comment. To give yourself reprieve, you make your Clones do half of your other homework, as muscle memory only comes from the original body.

The rest of your time was spent staring at the village and trying to meditate. You did this every day you could. Why? You were trying to mold your mind into some semblance of structure. You also wanted to have more faculties over your emotions. You knew too many people who had used your emotions against you, and you were tired of playing their little games. Staring at your home, your village, it gives you mixed emotions. You know that. It's one of the reasons you stare at it all the time. On one hand, you hate the place. It's an honest truth that you've come to forced terms with. On the other hand, you love the place. There are special people here that you cannot live without. You know that. They'd saved you, and you want to repay them. After all, you don't become a Ninja, a bringer of death, without damned good reasons.

You're sitting on the Fourth's head right now, staring at the village. You've already meditated for an hour, and now you're simply staring, memorizing everything.

"Uzumaki," calls a voice.

You turn to look over your shoulder to see an Anbu staring at you. "Yes?"

"The Hokage wishes to see you."

You nod. The Anbu is gone before you finish.

With a sigh, you rise and dust off your pants. You briefly think about getting an outfit to hide under your current orange jumpsuit. It would serve well for using on missions. You also think that maybe you should get second outfit for missions, as waiting to be caught first seems like a bad idea. After all, wearing bright orange in the village is fine. It's great for practicing stealth. However, outside of the village, it could be used against you, and that is never a good thing.

You're already running across rooftops. You aren't in the mood for civilians today. They can be horrible sheep sometimes, and you just get annoyed by it. After all, sheep have to be guided properly, or they'd always make the same mistakes.

A wolfish grin spreads across your face.

You are already at the tower, standing in its shadow. Looking up a moment, you take a deep breath. Exhaling slowly, promising to be the one sitting at the top someday, you enter. It doesn't take you long to get to the office. The secretary doesn't even bat an eye as you wander silently past her. You don't even barge in, figuring the old man has something important to tell you and you want to get to the point quickly.

An aged pair of eyes squint as a smile spreads across the old man's face. "Ah, Naruto. Glad you came quickly."

"What's up Jiji?" you ask. Hey, just because you snap to attention before you leave, it doesn't mean you're letting go of your favorite nickname for the man.

He smiles at you, obviously glad you haven't let go of the habit either. "I want to talk to you about your team." His eyes go serious, the smile falling.

You straighten up. This_ is_ important news. "What's goin' on?"

"Well, Hatake and Haruno are doing well so far. We finally managed a breakthrough with them, and now all that's needed is some ingrained habits and responses."

You smile and nod, glad to hear there is progress. You frown quickly, realizing that one of the members was left out. "And Sasuke?"

The old man frowns. "That's where things are getting tricky. He's been extremely stubborn. We haven't gotten anywhere with him. Mind you, a large part of it is due to what his brother did to him mentally before he left."

You frown. "What do you mean?"

The old man sighs, again seemingly too old for the hat he wears. You feel a little bad for asking. He smiles briefly at you as if knowing what you're thinking. "It's hard to explain. There is a talent among the Uchiha that is rare, but powerful. It is a genjutsu that is, as far as anyone can tell, unbreakable. He locked Sasuke into said genjutsu before departing, mentally scarring the young boy. From what Yamanaka could decipher, there's more to it than that, but Sasuke has barred anyone from entering those memories."

"Let me talk to him." You say it without thinking. You feel just as surprised as the old man.

"What?" he asks.

You shrug. It feels right. "Let me talk to him. If they can't help him, what can it hurt if I talk to him?" You pause. "Just make sure Yamanaka is close."

He gives you a piercing look, but nods. You smile as he rises and begins showing you the way to the Interrogation Department. You give him an odd look.

"Relax. The only reason we're doing this here is because we have better mental doctors. Plus, in the cases of Sasuke and Kakashi, there might be secrets that shouldn't be heard by anyone but specific people."

You nod.

Entering the facility feels weird. You've broken in several times, but you've never used the front door. It makes you shiver, and you bet they've put some seal on the entrance to get such reactions. You're already wondering if you can figure it out and use it to creep out opponents.

The Hokage clears his throat. You find you're standing in front of a glass window. Sasuke is sitting on the other side glaring at the glass.

"He can't see us," says the old man. "It may seem like it, but even if he was a sensor type, we have seals that would negate such skills."

You grin, liking the idea. You see the Yamanaka and a large dude staring at you. You ignore them. You're more worried about how you're going to deal with duck butt.

Stepping forward without thinking, the knob is already twisting. Once inside, you and duck butt are staring at each other. He scoffs at you and looks away.

"Yo' teme. I hear you got some issues."

He sneers at you. "What would you know?"

You shrug. "I have some of my own."

His eyes flash. "You have no idea what I've been through!" he lurches forward and grabs your jacket to haul you out of your seat.

You don't even bother reacting. "So show me."

His eyes widen. He actually looks a little scared. He scoffs and shoves you away to hide it. "Yeah right."

You grin viciously. Time to turn tables. "Aww, too scared?"

He growls at you. "I'm not scared of anything!"

You snort. "Then what you've seen must not be that bad. I mean, if you aren't scared, then I'm sure I've seen worse."

He grabs you again, screaming in your face. "FINE! WANT TO SEE, SEE IT!" His eyes dart to the Yamanaka already standing in the room. You're pretty sure that neither of you noticed when he came in.

The man simply nods, and you're quickly carried away into memory.

When you come out of it, Yamanaka looks pale. You start laughing. The other two occupants give you sharp looks.

"Really? REALLY?!" You laugh some more. Duck butt looks furious.

"Why are you laughing?!" he yells. His face is dancing between pain and fury.

You stop laughing abruptly. "Yeah, that sucked, but you're stupid."

Fury takes reign over Sasuke's pain. "What did you say?!"

You roll your eyes. "Dude, no doubt you'll never forget that night. But, you let the Uchiha name fall because you aren't brave enough to face your past and get over it? I mean really, you could be so much further ahead if you weren't so bloody focused on the past. And listening to that psycho? I mean really, what the hell does he know? Letting hate be your drive? That's a career ender."

"What would you know?! You know nothing of hate! You know nothing of pain! You didn't have your family ripped away from you by your own brother!"

You're looking into wide black eyes. You have no idea how you crossed the room so quickly, or even how you ended up on the table. You _do_ know that you're filled with rage. "This is what I'm talking about! You're so damned stupid! You can't even see anyone but your own little pity party self!" His shirt is in your hands. His feet aren't touching the ground. You sneer in his face. "YOU have no idea what pain is!" You turn just enough to glare at the Yamanaka. "SHOW HIM!"

The man looks hesitantly at the glass window. A single tap from the other side is all the man needs. He shakily comes forward again.

You make the arrogant prick see everything. From the first memory you ever had, which was of a woman smacking food out of your hands for no seeming reason and sending you to sit in a corner and watch as everyone else ate. You share the pain of days without food, of hunger, that burning clawing sensation that is so painful you can hardly breathe, let alone move. The feeling of being beaten, broken, tortured, and degraded washes over all of you, something you've experienced your whole life. You show him HATE, what it really means. You show him how it's twisted and used against you in every fashion possible. You show him the feeling of that look, those words. You even show him WHY, the REASON that stirs in your gut, and _how_ you found out.

When you all come out of it, the other two are both shaking and pale. Neither is standing. You sneer at your teammate.

"You don't know hate. I think it's funny you let that idiot brainwash you like that. Do you really think hate helps you? It cripples you. It makes you a puppet. How do you think Mizuki fell? He became weak because of hate. I made you spill your 'big-bad-secret' because you were filled with hate and weren't thinking. It makes you blind, weak, easy to manipulate. Do you think the Fourth became so great because he HATED? He became great because he LOVED. He had many precious people. This whole VILLAGE was precious to him. It gave him strength and drive that no one previously has ever seen. He took down the Nine Tails because of LOVE." You scoff at the bowed figure before you. "Love is harder than hate. It hurts more. It takes more to earn it, to keep it, and to protect it. You're pathetic. You'll never win if all you can do is hate. If you can't be strong enough to love, go be weak enough to hate."

You stomp out of the room. Everyone is gawking at you. It feels uncomfortable. Hiding sounds like a good idea. "Thanks Jiji." You salute him quickly and race towards the exit.


	3. Changing Directions

It's been a few days. You haven't really talked. A lot of people asked you questions, but you never answered. Mostly, all you had to do was look at them, and they bowed out and changed the subject. You're glad they get it.

Fear keeps you from seeing Jiji. You're worried he'll be disappointed. You're worried that your outburst didn't work. You're terrified duck butt will use everything against you.

Gai Sensei is thrashing you all over the training field. You've been trying to keep up, but your mind keeps wandering and you feel bad. You know if you did this out on a mission it wouldn't end well. You try harder to push your thoughts away.

A bolt of fear shoots through you. You leap. A swarm of kunai litter the ground where you'd just been. You spin to face Tenten, eyes huge. "What the hell?!"

She smirks. "Pay attention."

You blink. A smile crawls across your face. "Thanks." You lunge at Gai again, focused at last.

He grins, noticing the difference.

When training is over, you drag yourself back to your apartment. You make some ramen and slurp on the noodles slowly, too lost in thought to inhale them like normal. Anyone that knows you well would freak if they saw you.

*BAM!*

The cup of noodles flies into the air. You're already spinning around with a kunai in hand to face the door.

You fall face first onto the floor.

Sasuke is standing in the doorway. He is scowling at the rundown apartment, eyes tracing obvious water stains, peeling paint, and holes in the wall. He looks at you, eyes fierce. "Come."

"The hell?" you blurt.

He doesn't even respond. He walks past you and begins throwing anything that looks valuable into a pile on a scroll. He pauses at your Team photo. He picks it up gingerly and stares at it with a blank face. It's the only photo you have besides you and Jiji. You watch him with fear in your eyes.

He holds it out to you. You take it slowly, still confused. He hands you the second photo before heaping everything else he deems worthy into the same pile as before. He does some sign and *poof* it all gets eaten by the scroll.

You're jaw drops. "What are you doing?!"

He grabs the scroll and begins walking to the door. When he notices you're not following, he looks over his shoulder to scowl at you. "Hurry up."

And you're outside. You're not sure what's going on, but you're so startled you can't really form coherent thoughts. You're so busy trying to come up with the proper questions you don't notice where you're going until you're both entering the quietest compound in Konohagakure.

You blink. "Sasuke, what's going on?" You hate that your voice betrays your fear.

He takes a sharp left and enters one of the smaller houses. It's the only house that has fresh paint and a well-kept yard and training area. He throws open the door and you follow him hesitantly inside. He stalks over to a hallway and pushes open one of the sliding doors. He puts the scroll down on the dresser inside the nearly barren bedroom. You stand blankly in the doorway.

"Dinner is in an hour." He stares at you.

You stare back. "Huh?"

His face pinches. "Look, I'm… not used to this anymore. But, we're…" He gulps deeply before composing himself. "We're the same." His dark eyes are piercing. "And I'm… tired of the silence." He looks away at his admission, obviously uncomfortable he'd said it. His eyes dart towards you. "You said… teams are like… family…"

There's wetness on your cheeks. You feel boneless.

He shifts uncomfortably, obviously not sure what to do.

"Really?" Your voice is barely a whisper, but the place is so quiet that he hears you even though you had looked down.

He stops fidgeting. His nod is sharp, certain.

Your body is shaking. You want to scream, cry, and laugh all at the same time. Your body wants to crumble into a pathetic mess and leap all over the place at the same time. "I-I-I'm…"

Sasuke smirks, decidedly not being an ass and remark on your tears. "Welcome home."

You decide laughing is okay. It sounds a little hysterical, and your face is still leaking, but you've never felt more happy, more alive. "Home…"

He bumps your shoulder as he passes once your laughter ends. "Come on. I'll show you around."

You nod so fast you think your neck should have snapped. You race over to lovingly place your photos on the nightstand by the bed before rushing over to follow duck butt as he leads you back outside.

"I heard Sensei and…" he mutters something. "Sakura, should be released soon."

Smiling so big hurts, but it never falters. "Yeah?! That's great!"

He waves at the kitchen and dining room as you pass. "Food, place to eat it," he says. He points at the living room. "Relax." Pointing to another door, he doesn't even pause when reaching out to open the front door again. "Reading, scrolls."

"Hey, Sasuke?"

He pauses to look at you. "Hn?"

"Why did'ja-… I mean, what… what changed your mind?"

He points at your gut. "That's a lot of hate…" He pauses. "And a lot of love. You understand better than most." He frowns. "I don't want to be manipulated anymore."

Most people wouldn't know what the hell he meant. Oddly enough, you do. "Yeah," you say, scratching the back of your head as you look at the steps between you. "The Sheep don't understand it, but the ones that do… they're worth it." You grimace. "Being manipulated sucks. I've been meditating so I can control my emotions better."

He nods and then pauses. "Can you… show me?"

You swear your face is going to split if this keeps up. "Totally! Let's go!" You race by him and grab his arm, dragging him back out of the Compound.

He looks a little uncomfortable, but he doesn't complain.

You laugh. "I'm going to show you the best spot in the whole village!"

A faint smile crosses his lips. "Cool."


	4. Starting Over

It is a quiet two weeks that follow your move into the Uchiha district. Things are a little shaky at first, but the two of you are starting to fall into a comfortable routine.

Waking up early sucks! But, you do it because he asked if you wanted to train together. He hasn't shown you anything new or cool yet, but he doesn't say anything when you go into office/library room and read through some scrolls on different fire jutsu. He just follows you outside to practice the same jutsu you begin working on, doing it slowly so that you can watch him and pick it up. Neither of you talk, but that's okay. Sometimes the quiet is okay.

You talk other times. You fill silences well. Random things grab your interest, and you like to ask a lot of questions. It's a learned lesson to know when you're asking too much; his eye will start getting twitchy and he scowls instead of frowns. There _is_ a difference between the two.

It's weird having a brother. You'd kind'a considered it before, but he'd been too arrogant then. You're glad things have changed.

The grass tickles your cheek. When you'd kicked each other across the training field, you both decided to not get back up yet. It's early, and you knew that Gai's team is out on a mission for a week. You are glad Sasuke is around to train with. He had smirked when he noticed your improvements the first time you sparred. You'd both been sparring every morning since.

"Uzumaki, Uchiha, the Hokage wishes to speak with you," says a voice.

Excitement fills you. You're on your feet in a flash; ignoring the fact the Anbu was already gone. You'd get revenge on the Anbu later. Dark eyes look a little uncertain, hesitant. You grin broadly. "Let's go get out Team!"

His back straightens. "Hn."

And you race. It's never not a race anymore. Shooting each other cocky smirks you take to the rooftops, going all out as you push yourself to your limits.

You both touch the wall at the same time. You both pause to grin at each other before you both lean over a moment to pant heavily. Once your breathing slows, you both stroll into the Tower like you own the place. The Secretary grins and waves you through.

You can't help but burst in this time.

"Hey Jiji~! You called?!" You're in mid-jump when a hand grabs you by the collar. It forces you into a respectful bow.

"Good morning Hokage-sama," speaks Sasuke.

You want to protest, but you're kind'a too glad that he's finally showing the old man some respect. It helps that the Hokage almost drops his pipe.

The following beaming gaze as you both straighten lets you know he's proud of you, that you did the right thing and he's not upset. You're trying hard not to break your face again with a smile.

"I'm glad to announce that Team Seven is official back on active duty," says the old man.

Kakashi and Sakura step forward from the right.

Before anyone can say anything the pinkette bows deeply. "Forgive me!" she shouts. "I owe you both an apology."

You notice that duck butt looks as startled as you. "Huh? What are you talking about Sakura-chan?"

You hear her sniff softly. "I mistreated you both. I didn't see what I was doing, how horrible I was being. I'm sorry."

Exchanging looks, you decide it's safer if you approach her first. Your hand is on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay Sakura-chan. Um… Let's start over?"

She looks up at you hopefully. Whatever she sees, it makes her smile. "That'd be nice."

You grin, waving over Sasuke. "Hi, I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to be the future Hokage! I like Ramen, pranks, and my special people!"

Sasuke crosses his arms but isn't scowling. "I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I plan to revive my clan and be a Special Jounin. I like tomatoes, training, and… my brother." At everyone's confused stares, the black haired teen huffs and rolls his eyes. "Not that one." He punches you in the shoulder. "This one."

You cough to keep from crying.

Sakura's jaw snaps closed and she's suddenly beaming brightly at you both. "That's wonderful!" She bows sharply and snaps back up with a smile. "I'm Haruno Sakura! I want to be a strong kunoichi, possibly Special Jounin! I like strawberries, reading, and my family!"

A throat clears and you all turn to face the scarecrow. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. I want to train my Team to be Konohagakure's top Ninja. I like dorayaki, Icha Icha Paradise, and my special people." He eye-smiles. "It seems like Team Seven is finally official."

You twitch. All eyes turn to you. You bite your lip.

Sasuke rolls his eyes again. "Just say it."

"Can we train now?!" you burst.

Everyone laughs. Well, Sasuke just smirks, but it counts.

"Of course! We'll head to the training ground now."

You exchange a grin with your bro. Sakura looks a little sad. You catch her eyes. "Race?" you ask.

She grins. "I'm in!"

"Go!" shouts Sasuke. He's already running out the door.

"Cheater!" you yell, chasing him.

"Screw that! I'm winning this!" bellows Sakura, causing the Hokage and Kakashi to startle.

"Ma, ma, looks like they have a lot of energy today." The scarecrow scratches his head.

The Hokage smiles, puffing on his pipe. "I'm glad to see it."

Kakashi bobs his head. "Hokage." One Shunshin later, Kakashi heads out to grab some items for training.


End file.
